Damon Dash has
inked a deal with Koch Records for his label, Damon Dash Music Group and is
planning to drop a new album by dancehall artist Sizzla titled The Overstanding.
In Dec. 2004, Jay-Z and Dash sold the remaining 50% of Roc-A-Fella to Universal
for $10 million dollars. Jay-Z was named President of the Island Def Jam Music
Group and acquired 100 percent ownership of the Roc-A-Fella name and company.
Dash launched Damon Dash Music Group in January of 2005 as a joint venture with
the Island Def Jam Music Group but by May of 2005, reports surfaced that Universal
was dropping the label, due to various business conflicts with Dash. Dame Dash
Music Group’s original roster featured such artists as Nicole Wray, Rell, N.O.R.E
and the late rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Koch also announced deals with Kedar
Massenburg, the former CEO of Motown/Universal and Atlanta’s longtime staple,
Big Oomp, who will release a new album by DJ Unk.
Houston, Texas
Rapper Chamillionaire’s single "Ridin’ Dirty" has hit the #1 spot
on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week, knocking Rihanna’s single single "S.O.S.,"
to the #3 position. Atlanta rapper Yung Joc’s "It’s Going Down," also
hit #1 on this week’s Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. In related
news, Chamillionaire will perform "Ridin’ Dirty" from his platinum
album The Sound of Revenge on MTV’s video countdown show, TRL, which
airs today (May 30) at 3:30 pm ET.
A man that attended
the same holiday barbecue as rapper Lloyd Banks suffered serious injuries after
being shot in the neck in the rapper’s hometown of Queens, New York. According
to reports, Destin Mills, 18, was struck in the neck and will be paralyzed for
the rest of his life. Police said shortly after Banks left the party, a group
of men on motorcycles started shooting over the house’s fence striking and wounding
Mills. Four men were taken into custody, but police said none of the men were
responsible for shooting Mills. Reports said police are seeking to question
Banks about the shooting, but he is not considered a suspect.
The Rev. Al Sharpton
has offered to testify for prosecutors about the use of the N-word during the
controversial trial of Howard Beach, Queens resident Nicholas Minucci. Minucci,
who is white, is accused of a hate crime for using the N-word before assaulting
23-year-old Glen Moore with a baseball bat. "I’d be more than willing to
take the stand to explain the history and current connotations of the N-word,"
Sharpton wrote to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Minucci claims that
he didn’t use the term as a racial slur, saying the word is common "in
the hip hop world that I come from." Prosecutors hope to prove that Minucci
assaulted Moore based on his race and the fact that he entered into the wrong
neighborhood. Howard Beach was the scene of another infamous murder 20 years
ago, in which a group of white men attacked a group of black men who’s car broke
down. Michael Griffith, 23, was killed after being struck by a car on the Belt
Parkway trying to flee the angry mob. Three of the four teenager that perpetrated
the assaults were convicted of second-degree manslaughter.